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Concerning a person who had grown immodest.

When you see another in power, set this against
it, that you have the advantage of not needing power. When you see another rich, see what
you have instead of riches; for if you have nothing in their stead, you are miserable. But if you
[p. 2191]
have the advantage of not needing riches, know that
you have something more than he has, and of far
greater value. Another possesses a handsome woman; you the happiness of not desiring a handsome
woman. Do you think these are little matters? And
what would not those very persons give, who are rich
and powerful, and possess handsome women, if they
were only able to despise riches and power, and those
very women whom they love and whom they possess !
Do not you know of what nature the thirst of one in
a fever is? It has no resemblance to that of a person
in health. The latter drinks and is satisfied. But
the other, after being delighted a very little while, is
nauseated, the water becomes bile, he is sick at his
stomach, and becomes more thirsty than ever. It
is the same with avarice, ambition, lust. Presently
comes jealousy, fear of loss, unbecoming words, designs, and actions.

"And what," say you, "do I lose?" You were
modest, man, and are so no longer. Have you lost
nothing? Instead of Chrysippus and Zeno, you read
Aristides 1 and Euenus.2 Have you lost nothing,
then? Instead of Socrates and Diogenes, you admire
him who can corrupt and seduce most women. You
would be handsome, by decking your person, when
you are not really so. You love to appear in fine
clothes, to attract female eyes; and if you anywhere
[p. 2192]
meet with a good perfumer, you esteem yourself a
happy man. But formerly you did not so much as
think of any of these things; but only where you
might find a decent discourse, a worthy person, a
noble design. For this reason, you used to appear
like a man both at home and abroad; to wear
a manly dress; to hold discourses worthy of a man.
And after this, do you tell me you have lost nothing?
What, then; do men lose nothing but money? Is not
modesty to be lost? Is not decency to be lost? Or
can he who loses these suffer no injury? You indeed
perhaps no longer think anything of this sort to be
an injury. But there was once a time when you
accounted this to be the only injury and hurt; when
you were anxiously afraid lest any one should shake
your regard from such discourses and actions. See,
it is not shaken by another, but by yourself. Fight
against yourself, recover yourself to decency, to modesty, to freedom. If you had formerly been told any
of these things of me, that one prevailed on me to
commit adultery, to wear such a dress as yours, or to
be perfumed, would you not have gone and laid violent hands on the man who thus abused me? And
will you not now help yourself? For how much
easier is that sort of assistance? You need not kill,
or fetter, or affront, or go to law with any one; but
merely talk with yourself, the person who will most
readily be persuaded by you, and with whom no one
has greater weight than you. And, in the first place,
[p. 2193]
condemn your actions; but when you have condemned them, do not despair of yourself, nor be like
those poor-spirited people who, when they have once
given way, abandon themselves entirely, and are carried along as by a torrent. Take example from the
wrestling-masters. Has the boy fallen down? Get
up again, they say; wrestle again, till you have acquired strength. Be you affected in the same manner. For be assured that there is nothing more
tractable than the human mind. You need but will,
and it is done, it is set right; as, on the contrary,
you need but nod over the work, and it is ruined.
For both ruin and recovery are from within.

" And, after all, what good will this do me? " What
greater good do you seek? From being impudent,
you will become modest; from indecent, decent;
from dissolute, sober. But if you seek any greater
things than these, do as you are doing. It is no longer in the power of any God to save you.

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